McCarthy written off by Koeman
JAMES McCARTHY’S club season appears to be over — after Ronald Koeman admitted that he is unsure whether the midfielder is physically capable of overcoming his hamstring injury before the end of the Premier League campaign.
The Everton star broke down due to the long-standing problem in the warm up ahead of the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Wales last month.
That resulted in a very public tit-for-tat slagging match between Koeman and Ireland international boss Martin O’Neill over the treatment of McCarthy, who will have just two friendly matches — against Mexico in New Jersey and Uruguay in Dublin — to prove his fitness ahead of Ireland’s June qualifier with Austria at Aviva Stadium.
Since returning to Merseyside just under four weeks ago, the 26year-old has been unable to train fully with the rest of the Everton squad as he concentrates on his rehabilitation.
The Toffees have just five Premier League fixtures remaining this term and the Goodison Park club are in line for qualification for the Europa League qualifying stages. McCarthy, however, is unlikely to feature during their important runin and will miss tomorrow’s trip to West Ham United. ‘James McCarthy is still separate from the group.
‘I don’t know if he will be available until the end of the season,’ Koeman (above) said.
‘We have four weeks to go and I don’t know if we will reach a good level physically to play.
‘We will wait because it’s not the first time he is out.
‘We need to wait to see at what time in the season he will be back available.’